Chicken and Dumplings, Version #1

Sorry for the scarcity of posts here. I've been busy, including being out of town for a couple of days. We had the pleasure of eating one of my mom's home-cooked meals while we were there, and we went out for Chinese buffet one evening. Unfortunately, most of the last week and a half, we've been surviving on convenience meals like hamburger helper (homemade, but still blah) and fish sticks, which I justify because Sparky seems to like them a lot.

For the first time in at least 10 days, I have time today to cook something from scratch. It's cold, snowing a little and Spouse Guy has a bit of a head cold, so I decided some homemade chicken and dumplings would be good.

I make chicken and dumplings three ways. This is the easiest version. I may post the others later, but they are both more time consuming to prepare and I didn't want to make time for them this week.

If you want a more basic dumpling, you can leave out the chicken base, curry powder and chives. Or you can use any dumpling recipe from a basic cookbook, such as Betty Crocker or Good Housekeeping.



Chicken with Dropped Dumplings

3 cups cooked chicken, light or dark meat, cubed or shredded
6 cups chicken broth, homemade or purchased
1 - 2 tablespoons chicken base or bouillon to enhance flavor of broth
1/3 cup cornstarch
2/3 cup cold water

-----

Dumplings:

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1-2 teaspoons chicken base
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried chives or parsley flakes
1/4 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 stick COLD butter, cut into pieces
1 egg
1/2-1 cup milk

Combine chicken, chicken broth and chicken base in a Dutch oven (the wider the pan, the more dumplings you can drop into it).

Bring to a boil; combine cornstarch and cold water until smooth. Pour into chicken soup, whisking constantly; cook 2-3 minutes or until thickened. Reduce heat to a simmer and cover until ready for dumplings.

In a food processor*, combine flour, baking powder, chicken base, salt, chives and curry powder. With processor running, add butter, a piece at a time, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Turn processor off.

Add egg and process briefly. Again, with processor running, add milk gradually until a soft, sticky dough forms.

Drop dough by spoonfuls (or use a small ice cream scoop) onto simmering chicken stew. Cover the pan and simmer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove lid and if dumplings look fairly dry on top, continue to cook for 10 minutes uncovered. If they appear to still be wet (especially those around the outside), cover and cook an additional 5 minutes, then remove lid and cook uncovered for 10 more minutes.

Makes 6-8 servings.

'Rita Had A Little Lamb

And she liked it!

Until today, the only lamb I've had has been that pressed meat combination of seasoned lamb and beef that's used on gyro sandwiches. I really like it, but I wasn't sure if I'd like lamb "straight up". I've wanted to try it for a while, but it's expensive and I was hesitant to buy it, not knowing if I'd like it.

My curiosity got the best of me a couple of days ago when I found a package of two small lamb chops marked down as a manager's special at the local meat counter. Two chops is not enough for a meal for Spouse Guy and me, so we decided to grill them today (on the snowy back deck), along with some hamburgers that were already on the menu.

I threw together a red wine marinade and let them marinate for a couple of hours, then Spouse Guy grilled them for about 5 minutes on each side. I didn't use a recipe, but here are the approximations:

1/2 cup red wine
1/4 cup olive oil
1 T. minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1/2 teaspoon crushed rosemary leaves
1/4 teaspoon dry ground mustard
salt and pepper added just before grilling

The results? We were both surprised that the meat was very tender and milder in flavor than the gyro meat. We'd definitely eat lamb again, but probably only for special occasions because of the price.

Oh yeah, the hamburgers were really good, too!

Move Along...There's Nothing To See Here

I've been especially busy the last few days and not able to get to the kitchen to make anything new, or at least nothing worthy of a post.

But today we went out for lunch at Carrabba's. Read all about it here.

Busy Night Chili

This week has gotten out of hand with errands and appointments taking me away from the house, so last night I decided to go off my planned menu and fix one of our favorites. This is one of the most basic chili recipes I know. It can be on the table in less than half an hour because it doesn't require hours of simmering. (But it does seem to taste even better as leftovers the next day after the flavors have to blend.)

We like this chili with sour cream and corn chips, but it's also good with crackers.


Blogarita's Basic Chili

1 pound ground beef
1 envelope chili seasoning mix
1 can condensed tomato soup
2 cans chili-style beans (do not drain)

Brown ground beef in Dutch oven. Pour cooked meat into a colander and rinse with water to remove excess fat. Wipe pan clean with paper towel.

Return meat to pan. Add remaining ingredients to pan and stir to combine. If chili seems too thick, add half a soup can of water.

Heat over medium heat, stirring frequently, until chili is hot. Serve with toppings of your choice.

Serves 4.

Spiked Sausage and Shrimp

At first I wasn't going to post about this recipe that I found as part of a football party spread in the January 2007 issue of Woman's Day magazine. It just wasn't what I was expecting when it was done, and at first I wasn't sure if I liked it or not. For one thing, I mistakenly got chorizo that needed to be cooked instead of sausage that was fully-cooked, and it may have made a flavor difference. Not to mention that when I cut the recipe in half in order to have four servings (I was planning on leftovers later in the week) what should have been four servings only served two.

But then I considered that it had shrimp in it, so what was not to like? The more I ate of it, the more it grew on me. Ultimately, I decided I did like it, despite it not tasting the way I thought it would. I think I'll keep the recipe, but next time, I think I'll try it with smoked sausage or fully-cooked bratwurst instead.

Here it is as it appeared in the magazine (paraphrased):


Spiked Sausage and Shrimp

1/3 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
6 oz. fully-cooked beef or pork chorizo (Mexican sausage), sliced
2 lbs. shrimp, thawed and shelled
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/3 cup dry white wine
chopped parsley
French bread for soaking up pan juices

Heat olive oil in large skillet. Saute garlic in hot oil for about 1 minute.

Add chorizo to skillet and saute for 3 minutes or until slices have browned.

Add shrimp, salt and red pepper flakes and saute until shrimp turn pink.

Add wine and cook until shrimp are fully cooked, about 2 minutes more.

Toss with chopped parsley and serve with French bread.

Makes 8 servings.*


*Count on this to make closer to 4-6 servings instead of 8.

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

I'm taking my chances here trying to post a recipe for fried chicken. I've been making it myself for 20-some years now and have never used a recipe. It's one of those dishes, like my meatloaf, that never comes out the same way twice, and it never comes out as good as my mom's or my best friend's mom's. I do know that brining the chicken (letting is soak for a few hours in salted, sugared water) will improve the flavor, so I try to do that every time.

I always use whole chicken and cut it up myself, so I can save the back and wings to make chicken stock. I learned to cut up a chicken by watching my mom do it when I was growing up. If you don't know how, you can learn here, or you can spend a few cents per pound more and buy it already cut up.

And by the way, that's not some genetically modified chicken with extra parts in the photo. I cooked two (one for leftovers tomorrow or Sunday).


Fried Chicken

1 whole fryer chicken, cut up
2 quarts water
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons sugar
______

3/4 cup flour
1-1/2 teaspoons seasoned salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
additional salt and pepper


Combine water, salt and sugar in a very large bowl or pan and stir to dissolve. Place chicken pieces in this brine. If chicken is not completely covered by water, add more to cover. Refrigerate until ready to fry, at least 1 hour, more if possible.

Drain chicken and set aside.

Combine flour, seasoned salt and pepper in shallow bowl.

Heat 1/4" or so of oil in skillet over high heat.

Dredge moist pieces of chicken in flour mixture. If you'll be making gravy, you can save the leftover seasoned flour for that. Place chicken pieces, skin side down, in hot oil. Do not layer the pieces (I have layered the pieces, but it's a lot of work to get them done right; it's easier to use two pans if you have more than will fit in one).

Once all pieces are in the pan, sprinkle with additional salt and pepper, if desired. Fry chicken over high heat until well-browned on bottom. Turn pieces; again add additional salt and pepper if desired (we like lots of pepper).

Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and cook chicken for about 20 minutes or until juices run clear.

Remove lid, turn heat up to high, and cook until coating is crisp.

Drain on paper towels.

Makes 6 or more pieces, depending on how chicken is cut.

Asian Stir-Fried Vegetables With Pork

I don't try to do a lot of Asian cooking. Most of the time, I can't get it to taste as good as what I can get in a restaurant, and more importantly, when I eat Asian food, I love the variety I can get at a Chinese buffet.

That said, I decided to try a stir-fry for tonight. I didn't use a recipe for this (although I looked at a couple for basic sauce proportions). Sometimes I surprise myself. This turned out really good!

You can use chicken instead of pork, if you like; you wouldn't need to simmer the chicken to make it tender. Just cube it and cook it in a skillet until it's done, and set it aside until you're ready for it. Or leave the meat out entirely and use water or vegetable broth for the liquid for a vegetarian meal.


Blogarita's Asian Stir-Fried Vegetables With Pork

1 lb pork loin, but into 3/4" cubes
1 teaspoon chicken base or 1 chicken bouillon cube
_____

3 cups broccoli florets
3 cups cauliflower floret
1 large carrot, cut into julienne strips
1 medium onion, cut into wide strips
1 small zucchini, peel left on, sliced lengthwise, then cut into crosswise slices (half-moons)
1 can (7 or 8 oz.) sliced water chestnuts, drained
1/2 to 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1 c. red and/or green bell pepper strips
_____

1/3 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce (available in Asian foods section of market)
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons ground ginger (the kind sold in a jar in the produce section)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon Asian hot chili sauce (optional)
reserved pork or chicken broth
_____

Oil for stir-frying (I like peanut oil or extra-light olive oil)


Place pork and chicken base/bouillon in a small saucepan and add water just to cover. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 20 minutes to help tenderize the meat. Drain, reserving the meat and the meat broth separately.

Place broccoli and cauliflower florets and carrot strips in large microwave-safe bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Set veggies aside.

In another bowl, combine onion, zucchini, water chestnuts, mushrooms, and pepper strips. Set aside.

In a 4 cup glass measuring cup, combine cornstarch, soy sauce, white wine, white vinegar, sugar, hoisin sauce, garlic, ginger, sesame oil and hot chili sauce. Whisk until well-blended. Add enough of the reserved meat broth and/or water to make 3 cups total. Set aside.

In a very large, deep skillet or a wok, heat about 3 tablespoons oil over high heat until very hot. Add the broccoli-cauliflower-carrot mixture to skillet and stir-fry for 3 minutes.

Add the reserved pork and remaining vegetable mixture; stir-fry for 4 minutes.

Whisk sauce again to make sure ingredients are well-blended, then add all at once to skillet. Stir constantly until sauce is thickened and all vegetables and the pork are well-coated with sauce. Serve immediately with steamed or fried rice.

Makes 6 - 8 servings.

Breakfast Served Anytime

Truth be told, I'm not a big fan of breakfast. Sometimes it's all I can do to fix something for Sparky on the mornings she's here. After I'm awake for a couple of hours, I start to get hungry, but it's usual not for typical breakfast food. Once in a while, on a lazy weekend morning, I'll fix a big breakfast or we'll go out for breakfast. Most of the time, though, I'd much rather have my omelets and sausage links for lunch or supper.

Tonight we're having Biscuits & Gravy, either Fried or Scrambled Eggs, and Hash Browns for supper. A few years ago, I was working at the time with a man who had transfered here from near New York City, and he had no idea what Biscuits & Gravy was. Until then, I had no idea that good ol' B&G might be a somewhat regional dish. For that reason, I'm posting the recipe.

BTW, Sparky helped roll and cut out the biscuits.


Biscuits With Sausage Gravy

1/2 pound pork breakfast sausage
1/3 cup flour
1/8 teaspoon ground sage (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
3 to 4 cups of milk, or a mixture of milk and half-n-half cream
Hot homemade biscuits (see recipe below)

In a large deep skillet, fry crumbled sausage until completely cooked. Drain, leaving about 4 tablespoons of fat in the skillet with the sausage crumbles.

Stir in flour, sage (if using), salt and pepper. Cook over medium-high heat until flour begins to give off a nutty aroma, about 2 minutes.

Gradually add about half of the milk, whisking constantly to prevent lumps. This mixture will thicken very quickly. Continue adding milk a little at a time until desired consistency is reached.

Serve immediately over split homemade biscuits.

Makes 3-4 cups of gravy.


Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits

2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 (1/2 stick) cup cold butter
3/4 cup buttermilk (or 3/4 cup milk plus 1 tablespoon lemon juice stirred in to "sour" it)

Heat oven to 400° F.

In large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut in cold butter until mixture resembles course crumbs.

Stir in just enough buttermilk so that dough leaves the side of the bowl and forms a ball.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead lightly about 20 times. Roll or pat to 1/2 inch thick and cut with floured biscuit cutter. Place on ungreased cookie sheet or baking stone. Bake until golden brown, about 12 minutes.

Makes 8-16 biscuits, depending on size of biscuit cutter.

Yogurt Takes The Cake

Here's a cake recipe with lots of potential!

It's a moist, dense cake with a fluffy frosting. The recipe was originally published in the Dec. 2006/Jan. 2007 issue of Taste of Home as Black Cherry Cake, but I don't see why it couldn't be made with any flavor of yogurt you like. The black cherry yogurt might even be good in a chocolate cake.


Black Cherry Cake

1 white cake mix
3 egg whites
1/3 cup oil
1-1/4 cups water
2 containers (6 oz. each) black cherry yogurt
1 container (8 oz.) frozen whipped topping, thawed

Heat oven to 375°. Spray a 13-in. x 9-in. cake pan with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

In large mixing bowl, combine cake mix, egg whites, oil, and water. Mix until just moistened. Add one container of yogurt. Mix on medium speed for 2 minutes.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean.

Let cool in pan on wire rack until completely cool.

In large bowl, combine whipped topping and remaining yogurt. Spread over cooled cake.

Store cake in refrigerator.

Makes approx. 15 servings.

1 Fish, 2 Fish

Suppers have been kind of fishy around here this weekend. I didn't really plan to have these two fish dishes back to back; it just ended up that way.

The first recipe is for Pan-Fried Tilapia with Lemon-Caper Cream Sauce. Tilapia is a very mild white fish that doesn't taste "fishy" at all. Unfortunately, the creamy sauce negates any low-cal benefit of eating fish. Side dishes of creamy pasta salad, salad with homemade ranch dressing and black-cherry cake probably didn't help, either. !

The second recipe is for Fish Tacos. If you've never had these, you might be surprised at how good they are. There are at least two ways to make them. The first is to marinade and saute chunks of white fish seasoned white fish with Mexican spices, then put the fish mixture in a taco shell and top with shredded cabbage, salsa, etc. This is what I expected to be served the first time I ordered fish tacos. Instead, I was served tacos made from strips of battered and fried white fish that were topped with lettuce, tomato, salsa, and sour cream. This is the type of tacos we had today. We enjoyed Mexican rice and stewed pinto beans as side dishes.

(BTW, I tried baking the taco shells using fresh corn tortillas draped over a special pan. They turned out tough and chewy instead of crispy, so I won't be doing that again.)


Pan-Fried Tilapia With Lemon-Caper Cream Sauce



1/4 cup butter
2 T. flour
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 T. lemon juice
2 T. drained capers
1/4 - 1/2 cup milk or light cream
2 T. olive oil
1/4 cup flour
salt and pepper
2 large or 4 small tilapia fillets, thawed if frozen

Combine butter, 2 T. flour, chicken broth, lemon juice and capers in a small saucepan. Whisk over medium heat until smooth and thick. Gradually add enough milk or cream to bring mixture to desired sauce consistency, whisking until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Combine 1/4 cup flour with the salt and pepper; dredge fish fillets in flour mixture. Cook fillets in hot oil for 3-4 minutes on each side, or until fish is golden brown and flakes easily with a fork. Remove to serving platter and pour caper sauce over fillets.

Serves 2.



Fish Tacos



1 large tilapia (or other white fish) fillet per person being served*
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup beer or water
2-3 warmed crisp taco shells for each person being served
taco toppings of your choice (shredded lettuce, salsa, sour cream, olives, onions, tomatoes, etc.)


Heat oil in a deep fryer to 375°. Pat fish fillets dry with paper towels. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. Blend egg and beer, then quickly stir into the flour mixture (don't worry about a few lumps).

Dust fish pieces lightly with flour. Dip into beer batter, and fry until crisp and golden brown. Drain on paper towels. When just cool enough to handle, cut into strips.

Place fish strips in taco shells and top with your choice of toppings.



*Servings vary according to how much fish is prepared. One large fillet, battered and fried, will make 2-3 tacos.

There Are Times When You Just NEED A Big Chunk Of Meat

The stress of the holidays is behind us now. It's a nice, fairly warm day for January. We don't have Sparky tonight, and there's still that bottle of champagne to open that I didn't feel up to drinking on New Year's Eve. It's a perfect night for a steak dinner.

I had planned a better picture, with the steak on the grill, or at least with some corn on the cob on the plate with the steak and potato. But I got a phone call, and Spouse Guy also got a call, and things just got neglected from there. But the KC strips were excellent and it was a nice meal, nonetheless.

I'm not posting a recipe this time. I'm pretty sure you know what to do.

Turkey Pot Pie

Sorry, I don't have a picture of this biscuit-topped pie. For one thing, the filling boiled over the edge of the pan and created an ugly mess, and for another thing, we dug into it as soon as it came out of the oven without even thinking of getting pictures first.

I put this pie together without recipe, just using basic cooking concepts from similar pies I've made in the past. I used leftover diced turkey that I'd frozen right after Christmas, as well as turkey broth I'd made and frozen, too. I ended up adding one package of instant turkey gravy mix just to boost the turkey flavor a little. Here is the basic recipe.

Blogarita's Turkey Pie

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
3/4 cup flour (approximately)
1/2 large onion, diced
1 quart turkey or chicken broth
1 envelope instant turkey gravy mix
2 cups diced cooked turkey
1 pkg. (either 10-oz. or 16-oz.) frozen mixed vegetables*
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/4 c. (1/2 stick) COLD butter
1 cup milk

Heat oven to 375° F. Spray an oblong baking dish with non-stick pan spray.

In large pan or Dutch oven, melt butter. Saute onions in butter for 1-2 minutes.

Stir in 3/4 cup flour and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. This mixture will be very thick.

Stir in the gravy mix and immediately whisk in the turkey broth. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and boil until thickened, about 2 minutes.

Stir in turkey and vegetables. Season with salt and pepper. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Do not fill more than half full. ** Place in preheated oven.

Combine 2 cups flour, 1/2 salt and the baking powder. Cut cold butter into flour mixture until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in milk.

Remove dish of turkey filling from oven. Drop biscuit dough, using a large spoon or a small ice cream scoop, evenly over hot filling. Return dish to oven and bake until biscuits are full cooked and golden on top, approximately 20 minutes.

Makes 4-6 generous servings.

*You can use a peas and carrots blend if you don't wish to use mixed vegetables.
** If you have filling left over, it can be frozen and used later as a base for turkey soup.

New Year's Day Traditions

There's chatter today in the blogosphere about what people are eating for their New Year's Day meal. Some folks don't keep with any traditions, while others have one or more food traditions they observe on January 1 each year.

I found this website that lists some of the New Year's Day food traditions. They are in the center column, not far down the page.

No one has ever been able to decide if Blogaritaville is in the South or not. Some say it's in a Midwestern, but historically, it has been considered a Southern state. In any event, I'm following Southern tradition today and eating black-eyed peas and mustard greens for luck and prosperity. Bucking the traditional ham, I'm serving super-easy-to-make pork chops instead, and mashed potatoes.

I'm just getting over a nasty cold, so to avoid some work in the kitchen, I opted for canned mustard greens and canned black-eyed peas. Normally I'd cook fresh greens and dried beans, but I just didn't have it in me today. I bought "Southern seasoned - ready to heat" greens, and I am surprised at how good they taste. The beans are just like any other canned beans; they are acceptable but not great.

For those who are interested, here is the recipe for the pork chops.


Easy Baked Pork Chops with Gravy

6 pork chops, trimmed of fat
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup*

Heat oven to 350° F. Spray an oblong baking dish with non-stick pan spray.

Sprinkle onion soup mix evenly over bottom of baking dish.

Place pork chops on top of onion soup mix; spread condensed cream soup over chops.

Cover tightly with foil and bake for 1 hour.

Serves 4 to 6.

*If you want more gravy, use two cans of soup.